Mother nature’s angry show

WELL, what a week. When mother nature decides to put on a little show, she does it with a fury.

She unleashed one of her most potent weapons – water – and much of the rest of the country sent thoughts and prayers to all affected by the #KZNFloods.

Some said we deserved it because we instigated the devastating July riots and looting.

Others that we were being punished for allowing Ms Gumede and her string of fraud charges back into power.

Or that it was our fault for producing an “ailing” showerhead for a former president who is still fighting to not have the day in court he originally demanded. All manner of deities and karma were invoked for and against KZNers.

Those of us who live bah the sea – most of us, anyway – have felt how suddenly you can get tumblesanded when you aren’t keeping an eye on what the water is doing. The moment of panic when you realise this bloody wave has you utterly disempowered and your lungs are going to have to go beyond the call of duty if you are going to find which way is up and get there in time.

That’s kind of how last weekend felt. It started raining on Thursday and powered on through until midday-ish on Tuesday. People died, homes were lost, bridges were washed away. Roads were flooded, damaged and closed and vast swathes of the province lost power, water or both. Internet/cell towers went dark. It was abominably sad and gloomy. We’re still trying to find the top of the wave to catch a breath.

Now, in the wake of such ruin, as so many pointed out on social media, some will get rich/er when the tenders for repairs are awarded.

Thankfully I started the day with a fully loaded device and was at least able to skirt the limitations of all the collapsed tech for a while. I kept an eye on Twitter and reliable online news sources to find out what was going on, and there were plenty of posts from many areas telling of tragedy, bravery, goodness, and even humour.

But I was surprised when I saw the extarordinary number of people angrily blaming the destruction on politicians, tenderpreneurs and those who live in KZN.

So many folk were filled with fury, fear and gatvolness about how we had got to this state. There were so many #VoetsekANC/Bring on 2024 posts. People saying there was no more room for criminals to be in charge of us and asking what they had done to make sure our infrastructure could cope with such a calamity.

I wondered how many of these twitterers had voted in the last election and whether they would stir their ass to vote in 2024. That, dear angry people, is the only way to get to #VoetsekANC.

Oh, and offer an alternative that could make the changes we need to start getting back on track by putting people in the saddle who will whip these little, but powerful, show ponies into doing some proper work. For us, not themselves.

As more rain makes its way into our soggy, sagging province, let’s start considering if we actually have a replacement.

And even if the powers won’t, we at least need to start sucking up to mother nature by looking after her to save ourselves.